I’m continuing my reading of The Sovereign Grace of God by James White and chapter 5 in which Dr. White tackles the “dreaded” L in TULIP, limited atonement.
This topic causes the most consternation among Christians as they wrestle with the seemingly conflicting idea that God came to save people while at the same time purposing to not save others.
White argues the main reason for the internal struggle here is an incomplete understand of God’s sovereignty or one (or more) of the other 4 points in TULIP.
White recalls a question a caller to his program asked, some time ago, when he was still a “4-point” Calvinist. “Why would Christ die for the whole world if God didn’t intend to save everyone?” the caller asked. Realizing he needed to do more research in order to have an answer to this question, White read Edwin Palmer’s book on The Five Points of Calvinism.
One section of the book in particular caught White’s attention: “Did Christ actually make a substitutionary sacrifice for sins or didn’t He? If He did, then it was not be for all the world, for then all the world would be saved.”
This is a very interesting perspective, given that if we believe God is sovereign over all things, and Christ accomplishes what he says he accomplished, then how would everyone not be saved?
This, of course, leads into some unsound theological territory, as one would have to become a universalist (everyone is saved no matter what) or the death of Christ is insufficient to save without additional works. And as White has covered in this book already and we’ve recapped here, man is dead in sin and totally reliant on God’s saving grace to rescue him from it.
If Jesus did actually accomplish what he set out to do, it makes more sense that He died for his elect.
White makes an interesting point concerning limited atonement in that he claims those holding the Arminian view also limit atonement — just in a different way. The Calvinist view of limited atonement is related to God’s elect, while the Arminians believe in limited atonement in that the atonement for men is limited in it’s effect. The Calvinist may see a limit in the scope of atonement, but it’s power is unlimited. The Arminian, however, must adhere to the idea that somehow man can overpower God’s will to save.
The Arminian view essentially says that Christ’s death on the cross didn’t save anyone, it only potentially saved people. In fact, in this view it is entirely possible that God could’ve saved no one and Christ could’ve failed in his sacrificial death.
Did Jesus come simply to make salvation possible? White points to Hebrews 9:12 which states He came to “obtain eternal redemption.” Some other related Scripture:
- “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Luke 19:10
- “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the worst.” 1 Timothy 1:15
You can see here the emphasis on Christ’s goal to SAVE not to make it possible. So, did He not accomplish His goal? Did the sovereign God of the universe fail? Of course not. It is finished. He succeeded.
Because, as White explains later in the chapter, Christ saved every person he decreed he would save.
- “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28
- “By his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.” Isaiah 53:11
- “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep… just as the Father knows me and I know the Father — and I lay down my life for the sheep.” John 10:11,15
White asks: are all men the sheep of Christ? If so, that would contradict a lot of Scripture, including Jesus saying most men do not know Christ, and that my sheep know my name. And if you’re still not convinced, Jesus says to the unbelieving Jews in John 10:26 “but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.”
This seems to stand in stark contrast with the idea that we just believe on our own power and make ourselves Christ’s sheep.
The Bible also shows the certainty that Jesus WILL save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). As White and Edwin Palmer have asked – well, did He? Did He save His people, or did He not?
In this chapter White also covers the idea that Christ died for ALL but it’s up to us to have faith, and that faith is not a work. White defers to the puritan writer John Owen, who I’ll paraphrase.
He lays out the options: God imposed His wrath on Jesus for one of these:
- All the sins of all men
- All the sins of some men
- Or some of the sins of all men
I think it’s pretty obvious we can rule the last option out, otherwise no one would be saved because we’d all have something left to answer for and we wouldn’t be able to stand on our own.
The 2nd would be the Calvinist view.
What about that first option? That’s what Arminians claim. Jesus died for ALL the sins of ALL men, and it’s up to us whether or not to believe. But if that’s true, why are some people NOT going to be saved? The stock answer is because the didn’t believe. Here’s what Owen writes about that point:
“But this unbelief, is it a sin, or not? If not, why should they be punished for it? If it be, then Christ underwent the punishment due to it, or not. If so, then why must that hinder them more than their other sins for which he died from partaking of the fruit of his death? If he did not, then he did not die for all their sins.”
That Puritan is bringing some serious heat! I’m sure it’s out there on YouTube somewhere, and I’ll surely seek it out, but I’m interested to hear the Arminian response to this pickle.
We know some people will end up in Hell. We know some people won’t believe. But how could that be possible if Christ died for ALL the sins of ALL men? If their unbelief is not a sin, why would they be punished for it and end up in Hell? If their unbelief is a sin, why wouldn’t it be forgiven like the other sins?
There’s some good quality food for thought on a Tuesday night 🙂
I highly recommend reading this book if you’re looking to explore the Calvinist worldview. There is so much meat in this book I am only scratching the surface of recapping each chapter and I’m writing a bit of a book myself.
READ MORE: Remember, 3 clicks a day keeps Satan away!
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